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NEW JEKSEY 




STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 


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THE INI3UCTION 


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PROFESSOR JOHN S. HART 




AS 




PRINCIPAL Of THE MODEL SCHOOL. 


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AUGUST 26, 1862. 




TRENTON, N. J.: 




PRINTED AT THE "TRUE AMERICAN" OFFICE. 




1862. 












(I 9h^. EXPOS' ^ 



NEW JEESEY 



STATE NORMAL SCHOOL. 



THE IN13UCTION 



OF 



/ 
PROFESSOR JOHN S, HART 



AS 



PRINCIPAL OE THE MODEL SCHOOL. 
AUGUST 26, 1862. 



TRENTON, N. J.: 

PRINTED AT THE "THUG AMERICAN" OFFICE. 
1862. 



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PROCEEDINGS. 



The ceremony of inducting Prof. John S. Hart into office, as Prin- 
cipal of the Model School of the New Jersey State Normal School, took 
place in the spacious Hall of the Model School building, on Tuesday 
afternoon, August 26, 1862. 

A large audience, composed of the teachers, pupils, and friends of 
the School, was present. Among the distinguished gentlemen upon 
the platform, were Hon. Richard S. Field, Esq., of Princeton, Wil- 
liam A. Whitehead, Esq., of Newark, Peter I. Clark, Esq., of 
Flemington, and F. W. Ricord, Esq., members of the Board of Trus- 
tees ; also, Rev. John Maclean, D. D., President of the College of 
New Jersey, Rt. Rev. W. H. Odenheimer, D. D., Bishop of the Dio- 
cese of New Jersey, Prof Guyot, of Princeton, Prof. W. H. Green, 
D. D., of the Theological Seminary at Princeton, Prof. M. W. Jacobus, 
of the Theological Seminary at Allegheny, Rev. Dr. Wiley, Principal 
of the Pennington Seminary, Rev. Dr. Nassau and Rev. Mr. Hammill 
of Lawrenceville, and Rev. Mr. Janeway, of Flemington. 

Prof William F. Phelps, of the Normal School, presided, and in- 
troduced the exercises with remarks explanatory of the occasion. 

After the reading of a portion of Scripture by the Rev. Mr. Jane- 
way, President Maclean made the opening prayer. 

Mr. Field then, as President of the Board of Trustees, made an Ad- 
dress, summing up the results which have already accrued to the people 
of the State from the establishment of the Institution, explaining the 
objects of the Trustet-s in the present reorganization of the Model De- 
partment, and then formally invested Prof. Hart with the powers of 
his office, as Principal of the Model School. 

Next in order, came the Inaugural Address of Prof. Hart, in which 
he set forth at considerable length the principles by which he would be 
guided, and the objects which he would aim to secure, in the manage- 
ment of the school. 

The Inaugural was followed by an Address from Bishop Odenheimer, 
showing the necessity and value of such Institutions. 

The exercises were enlivened throughout with appropriate music by 
the pupils and by a select choir, under the leadership of Mr. JosEru 
RoNEY, and were closed with prayer by the Rev. Dr. Wiley. 



PROF. PHELPS'S ADDRESS. 



Ladies and Gentlemen : — We have assembled here on 
the present occasion not to witness a mere ceremony, but 
rather to celebrate an event which, as we trust, w^ill 
prove to be an onward and upward step in the progress 
of popular education in New Jersey. 

We believe that the advancement of the human race 
is secured only on the basis of a higher culture more 
widely diffused, and hence that every substantial improve- 
ment in our great representative institutions designed for 
the instruction of the masses of the people is a conquest 
by the power of enlightenment over the dark domain of 
ignorance, — a victory in the interest of humanity and a 
higher civilization. Therefore do we meet here to-day 
to give impressiveness to an event like this. 

The State Normal School was established by an act of 
the Legislature, in February, 1855, for the sole purpose 
of elevating the standard of education by the thorough 
and careful special training of teachers for the schools of 
the people. The Model School is one of the means de- 
vised to secure this important result. Humble and un- 
pretending in its origin, it proposed at first simply to ex- 
emplify and illustrate the most approved methods of pri- 
mary instruction, and to afford the opportunity for obser- 
vation and practice to those who, from time to time, 



should come up hither to be qualified for the teacher's 
responsible office. 

From a small primary department in the Parent Insti- 
tution, it has expanded to a graded school, in which 
not only are the elements taught with precision and 
thoroughness, but in which also a knowledge of the higher 
branches of an English, Mathematical and Classical edu- 
cation, as well as of the Modern Languages, is success- 
fully imparted. The offspring of the Normal School, it 
has grown with its growth and strengthened with its 
strength until, as we hope, it has become a power in the 
State. 

Encouraged by the favor of an intelligent and liberal 
community, the Board of Trustees feel that the time has 
now come to take another forward step in the develop- 
ment of its resources. They desire to enlarge its scope 
as an element of the Normal School system, by such a 
reorganization as shall secure ample illustrations of the 
most approved methods in every grade of instruction, 
from the Primary to the High school. They are anxious 
more closely to identify it with the interests of all classes 
of our institutions of learning, by providing parallel 
courses of study, and developing therein the best models 
of teaching known to the profession. 

To this end they have been so fortunate as to secure 
the active aid of a gentleman of national reputation, who 
is perfectly familiar with all the details pertaining to the 
higher courses of instruction, and whose heart is devoted 
to the noble work to which he is called. It is to induct 



this gentleman, John S. Hart, LL. D., late of the Cen- 
tral High School of Philadelphia, into office, as Principal 
of the Model School, that we have come together on this 
occasion. 

May we not expect that this auspicious event will re- 
dound to the still higher usefulness of this noble institu- 
tion ? And will not every true friend of humanity join me 
in the fervent hope that the Normal School and the great 
cause to which it is devoted may soon be enshrined in 
the heart's best affections of every citizen of New Jersey ? 



MR. FIELD'S ADDRESS. 



The occasion upon which we have assembled is one of 
much interest. It constitutes a new era in the history 
of the New Jersey State Normal School. We are about 
to take another step in advance. This institution, I may 
be allowed to say, has already attained a high reputation 
among similar institutions in our land, and has been 
thought to hold out no mean advantages to those who 
resort to it for instruction. We indulge the hope, that 
what we are about to do to-day will have the effect of 
raising that reputation higher, and making those advan- 
tages greater. 

The Legislature which first called into existence the 
Normal School, did more by that single act, for the pro- 
motion of popular education in New Jersey, than had been 
accomplished by the combined efforts of all who went 
before them. We had been legislating upon the subject 
of common schools more than twenty years. Statute had 
been piled upon statute. Measures had been taken for 
their organization — laws had been passed for their gov- 
ernment — and provision had been made for their sup- 
port. And yet, little or no progress had been made. 
Our schools were still in a languishing condition. The 
people were losing their interest in them ; and the pain- 
ful conviction was forcing itself upon the minds of many 
that our noble school fund, the accumulation of so many 



8 

years, had failed to produce the rich fruits that were ex- 
pected from it. It is now very manifest what was the 
cause of this failure. We had neglected the one thing need- 
ful in the matter of education. We had made no provision 
for a supply of competent teachers. Not doing this, we 
had really done nothing. It was to cure this fatal defect, to 
repair this capital error, that the Legislature of 1855, 
with a liberality that did them infinite credit, passed the 
act for the establishment of a Normal School. This act 
has now been in operation for a period of seven years ; 
and if you ask me what have been its results, my answer 
is, look around you ! Here, in the Capital of the State, 
bave sprung up two noble edifices, consecrated to the 
work of education. Sightly, spacious, and well arranged, 
they are admirably adapted to the purposes for which 
they were designed. Regarded as among the best speci- 
mens of school architecture in our country, they are 
looked to as models for similar erections in other States. 
Structures, upon a less extended scale, but combining 
many of their valuable features, now adorn our principal 
towns, are scattered among our villages, and are begin- 
ning to penetrate our rural districts. In various ways, an 
impulse has been given to the cause of common schools 
in New Jersey which was never felt before. They are 
attracting to themselves a large share of public interest 
and attention. They have already become one of the 
great institutions of the State. The standard of instruc- 
tion has been raised in them, — new and approved methods 
of teaching adopted, — new and useful branches of study 



9 

introduced. The profession of a teacher has been rescued 
from the neglect, not to say contempt, into which it had 
fallen, and has come to be universally regarded as one of 
the most honorable, as it is one of the most useful, of 
professions. The Normal School has become a centre of 
influence, a point of attraction, a rallying ground, for 
teachers and friends of education throughout the State. 
The closing days of its terms, like the commencements 
of our Colleges, are becoming gala days in New Jersey. 
These ample halls are thronged by the multitudes who 
come up here to be present at its interesting exercises. 
But above all, there issues yearly, from this as from a 
fountain, a stream of educated teachers, to fill and to fer- 
tilize the common schools of our State. These are some 
of the results already accomplished by the Normal School. 
It has been the earnest effort of those to whom have 
been committed the interests of this institution, to make 
it, in the language of the act by which it was created, 
*' worthy of the State of New Jersey;" worthy of the 
continued patronage ot the Legislature ; and to enable it 
to fulfill, to the utmost possible extent, the great and be- 
neficent purpose for which it was intended. They had 
the good fortune, at an early day, to secure the services 
of one* who, in the capacity of Principal, has proved him- 
self peculiarly fitted for the task assigned him, — that of 
organizing and building up a great training school; of 
one, who has already done enough to identify himself with 
the cause of Normal School education in the United States. 

*rrof. Wm. F. Phklvs. 



In conformity with the wishes of the Trustees, and ia 
accordance with his own large and comprehensive views, 
he has, from the beginning, proposed to himself a very 
elevated standard. It has been his ambition, as it has 
been theirs, to make this institution the first in the land, 
and thus to secure for the common schools of New Jersey 
the very best teachers that this country can produce. 
That this high standard has been reached, or that we 
have made any very near approach to it, it would be pre- 
sumptuous to affirm. But this, I think, may be truly 
said, that we have constantly strived to keep our eye 
upon it, and have been continually making some advances 
towards it. 

And now, at the opening of another term, it is with 
great satisfaction that the Trustees are able to announce 
that arrangements have been made which they cannot 
but hope will conduce no little to advance the reputation 
and usefulness of this institution. They have selected as 
Principal of the Model School, Professor John S. Hart, 
w^hose induction into office is the object for which we are 
here assembled. Undoubtedly the chief purpose of the 
Normal School is the education and training of teachers 
for our common schools. To this end everything else is 
to be subordinate. But, as one of the means for the at- 
tainment of that end, the Trustees were authorized to es- 
tablish a Model School, " under a Permanent Teacher," ia 
which the pupils of the Normal School might have an op- 
portunity of practicing those methods of instruction and 
discipline which are inculcated in the Normal School. 



11 

This was an eminently just and wise provision. For ed- 
ucation is not merely a science to be studied, but it is 
also an art to be practiced. It is one thing to know how 
it ought to be done ; it is quite another thing to do it. 
It is a practical business, and requires for its successful 
execution not only talent, but tact. It is very possible 
for one to be perfectly familiar with the principles upon 
which education ought to be conducted, and yet to fail 
utterly when he comes to apply those principles to the 
actual instruction, government, and discipline of a school. 
Hence, the first purpose of the Model School is, that it 
may be a school of practice, in which the pupils of the 
Normal School may acquire the art, at the same time 
that they are learning the theory of teaching. But there 
is another, and a most valuable purpose which the Model 
School is designed to answer. It is, that it may be a pat- 
tern school for imitation by other schools throughout the 
State. It is, that it maybe a living example and embo- 
diment of what a good school really is. 

Professor Hart : — It is, I have no hesitation in say- 
ing, more especially with a view of making our Model 
School such a school as this, that we have selected you 
to preside over it. Your high reputation as a teacher, — 
the long and varied experience you have had in the bu- 
siness of teaching, — and the distinguished success which 
has heretofore crowned your labors in this department — 
all point you out as one to whom we may safely confide 
the task of making this school, in the highest and best 
sense of the term, a Model School. And by such a school 



12 

I mean, not merely one in which instruction is given in 
those branches of knowledge which are usually taught in 
our common schools. I mean more, much more, than 
this. I mean a school far, very far, advanced beyond 
what it is possible for our common schools now to be, but 
to the level of which, it may be hoped, they are destined 
one day to aspire. In short, I mean a school in which 
may be obtained what Milton calls, " a complete and 
generous education, that which fits a man to perform 
Justly, skillfully, and magnanimously all the offices, both 
private and public, of peace and war." And it is, sir, in 
the hope, and with the expectation, of making our Model 
School such a school as this, that I now, in the name and 
on behalf of the Trustees of the State Normal School, in- 
vest you with all the authority requisite for its direction 
and government. 



PROF. HART'S ADDRESS. 



Gentlemen of the Board of Trustees ; Ladies and Gen- 
tlemen: — Allow me to thank you most sincerely and 
truly for the very kind manner in which you have wel- 
comed my return to the State of New Jersey. I can 
never forget that it was on Jersey soil I laid the founda- 
tion of whatever professional reputation I may have 
achieved, 

I desire to thank you, also, for that liberal confidence 
which has been so generously accorded in advance to all 
the plans proposed, and the efforts about to be put forth 
among you. Such confidence is in itself a large element 
of success. In fact, without public confidence, bestowed 
sooner or later, no important scheme for the public ad- 
vantage can succeed. It is an essential condition of re- 
publican institutions, that plans for the promotion of the 
public weal should have popular co-operation, which can 
be had only by first gaining public confidence. One of 
the greatest difficulties usually encountered by those who 
would fain do the State a service, is that the necessary 
confidence is so long withheld, and so grudgingly given. 
I cannot but feel, therefore, that I have been placed un- 
der special obligation by the manner in which the citi- 
zens of this community, as well as the authorities of the 
Institution, and of other venerable institutions of the 



14 

Commonwealth, have signified their acquiescence in the 
important trust with which you have this day invested 
nie. Nor can I forget that a generous trust has its ne- 
cessary correlative in large expectations. It is, I assure 
you, a source of painful anxiety to know how much is 
expected of this institution. Every anticipation of good 
only increases this solicitude. No one, so well as he who 
has had large experience of such institutions, knows how 
manifold are the difficulties to be encountered, how mul- 
tiplied are the chances of failure. Let me, however, say 
this. I have entered upon the work before me in no 
light, inconsiderate, or half-hearted spirit. Whatever of 
earnest manhood I may possess, whatever of professional 
skill, whatever of scholarship, whatever of administrative 
talent, or of personal influence, whatever of aptitude for 
teaching, governing, or disciplining the young, — with 
devout prayer to God for guidance, — I here dedicate to 
the service of the New Jersey State Normal School. 

You will not expect, of course, on this occasion, any 
detailed exposition of the plans and methods of the school. 
Such an exposition would necessarily be wearisome, as it 
would be premature. A brief statement of some of the 
aims of the institution, and of the principles by which we 
shall be guided in prosecuting them, is all that would 
seem to be consistent with a sound discretion. 

1. «' Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain 
that build it." I have no professional conviction more 
fixed and abiding than this, that no persons more need 
the direct, special, continual guidance of the Holy Spirit 



15 

than those who undertake to mould and discipline the 
youthful mind. No preparation for this office is complete 
which does not include devout prayer for that wisdom 
which Cometh from above. If any one possession, more 
than another, is the direct gift of the Almighty, it would 
seem to be that of knowledge. The teacher, therefore, 
of all men, is called upon to look upwards to a source 
that is higher than himself. He needs light in his own 
mind ; he should not count it misspent labor to ask for 
light to be given to the minds of his scholars. There is 
a Teacher infinitely wiser and more skillful than any hu- 
man teacher. The instructor must be strangely blind to 
the resources of his profession, who fails to resort habitu- 
ally to that great, plenary, unbounded source of light and 
knowledge. While, therefore, we shall aim in this school 
to profit by all subsidiary and subordinate methods and 
improvements in the art of teaching, we shall still first 
of all seek the aid of our Heavenly Father ; we shall ever- 
more ask wisdom of Him who " giveth liberally and up- 
braideth not ;" and I trust that the more formal suppli- 
cations with which the daily sessions of the school are to 
be opened, will be only an index of unceasing private 
prayer, by teachers and pupils, for the same divine bless- 
ing. This, then, is the first principle that will govern 
us in the work here assigned us. The fear of God is the 
beginning of knowledge. We who are teachers w^ill en- 
deavor to show that we ourselves fear God, and we will 
inculcate the fear of Him as the first and highest duty of 
our scholars ; and in every plan and effort to guide the 



16 

young minds committed to us, we will ourselves look for 
guidance to the only unerring source of light. 

2. In proportion to the implicitness with which we rely 
upon divine aid, should be the diligence with which we 
use all the human means within our reach. It will, there- 
fore, in the second place, be the aim of the teachers of 
the Model School to acquaint themselves diligently with 
the most approved methods of teaching. No teachers 
will be retained who do not keep themselves well posted 
in the literature of their profession, and who are not found 
continually aiming at self-improvement. In whatever 
school of whatever country, any branch is taught by bet- 
ter methods than those practiced here, it should be the 
duty of a teacher in the Model School to search it out, 
and to profit by the discovery. So far as we fail to do 
this, we fail to be a Model School ; and the name, which 
should be our glory, becomes a biting satire, a source of 
scorn and contempt. Improvement comes by compari- 
son. The man, or the institution, that fails to profit by 
the experience of others, is surely not wise. I shall hold 
it to be the duty of every teacher of the Model School to 
be habitually conversant with the educational journals of 
the day, and with the standard works on the theory of 
teaching, and to lose no opportunity for personal obser- 
vation of the methods of others. I have often noticed, 
with equal pain and commiseration, that young teachers, 
after having once finished their preliminary studies and 
obtained a situation, are thereupon apparently quite con- 
tent, making no further effort at improvement, but set- 



17 

tling down for life in an inglorious mediocrity. The best 
teachers in the Model School are expected to be better 
teachers next year than they are now, — with ample stores 
of knowledge, and a happier faculty for communicating 
it. This, then, is our second aim in this school. We 
shall aim to have teachers thoroughly posted in regard 
to the theory and the methods of teaching, prepared to 
ride upon the advance wave of every real improvement 
in the art. 

3. I should, however, fail entirely to convey my mean- 
ing, were I to lead you to suppose that we expect to ac- 
complish our ends mainly by fine spun theories. I have 
no faith in any theory of education, which does not in- 
clude, as one of its leading elements, hard work. The 
teachers of this school expect to work hard, and we ex- 
pect the scholars to work hard. We have no royal road 
to learning. Any knowledge, the acquisition of which 
costs nothing, is usually worth nothing. The' mind, 
equally with the body,'*grows by labor. If some stuffing 
process could be invented, by which knowledge could be 
forced into a mind perfectly passive, the knowledge so 
acquired would be worthless to its possessor, and would 
soon pass away, leaving the mind as blank as it was be- 
fore. Knowledge, to be of any value, must be assimi- 
lated, as bodily food is. Teaching is essentially a co- 
operative act. The mind of the teacher and the mind of 
the scholar must both act, and must act together, in in- 
tellectual co-operation and sympathy, if there is to be any 
true mental growth. Teaching is not merely hearing 



18 

lessons. It is not mere talklnir. It is sornethins; more 
than mere telling. It is causing- a child to know. It is 
awakening attention, and then satisfying it. It is an out- 
and-out live process. The moment the mind of the 
teacher or the mind of the scholar flags, real teaching 
ceases. This, then, is my third aim. I shall aim in this 
school to accomplish results, not by fanciful theories, but 
by bona fide hard work, — by keeping teachers and scholars, 
while at their studies, Avide awake and full of life ; not 
by exhausting drudgery, nor by fitful, irregular, spas- 
modic exertions, but by steady, persevering, animated, 
straight forward work. 

4. A fourth aim which I shall have steadily before rae, 
"will be to make thorough work of whatever acquisition we 
attempt. A little knowledge well learned and truly di- 
gested, made a part of the pupil's own intellectual stores, 
is worth more to him than any amount of facts loosely 
and indiscriminately brought together. In intellectual, 
as in other tillage, the true secret of thrift is to plough 
deep, not to skim over a large surface. The prevailing 
tendency at this time, in systems of education, is unduly 
to multiply studies. So many new sciences are being 
brought within the pale of popular knowledge, that it is 
no longer possible, in a school like this, to embrace with- 
in its course of study all the subjects which it is practi- 
cable and desirable for people generally to know. Through 
the whole encyclopoedia of arts and sciences, there is 
hardly one which has not its advocates, and which has 
not strong claims to recognition. The teacher is simply 



19 

infatuated who attempts to embrace them all in his cur- 
riculum. He thereby puts himself under an absolute ne- 
cessity of being superficial, and he generates in his scholars 
pretension and conceit. Old James Ross, the gramma- 
rian, famous as a teacher in Philadelphia more than half 
a century ago, had on his sign simply these words, " Greek 
and Latin taught here." Assuredly I would not advo- 
cate quite so rigid an exclusion as that, nor if limited to only 
two studies, would it be those. But I have often thought 
Mr. Ross's advertisement suggestive. Better even that 
extreme than the encyclopoedic system which figures so 
largely on some circulars. Mr. Boss indeed taught no- 
thing but Latin and Greek. But he taught these lan- 
guages better probably than they have ever been taught 
on this continent ; and any two branches thoroughly mas- 
tered are of more service to the pupil than twenty branches 
known imperfectly and superficially. A limited field, 
then, and thorough work. This shall be our fourth aim. 
5. As a fifth aim, I shall endeavor, in the selection of 
subjects of study, not to allow the common English 
branches, as they are called, to be shoved aside. 1 make 
this declaration the more explicitly, because it is gene- 
rally understood that we propose to push forward classi- 
cal studies into considerable prominence. Latin and 
Greek will be taught by the Principal exclusively. That 
being his special department will naturally receive an 
ample share of fostering attention. Be it understood, 
however, that no one appreciates more highly than I do 
the importance of the common English branches. To 



20 

read well, to write a good hand, to be expert in arith- 
metic, to have such a knowledge of geography and his- 
tory as to read intelligently what is going on in the world, 
to have such a knowledge of one's own language as to 
use it correctly and purely in speaking and composition, 
— these are attainments to be postponed to no others. 
These are points of primary importance, to be aimed at 
by every one, whatever else he may omit. 

6. I shall, in the sixth place, aim as speedily as possi- 
ble to mark the successive parts of the course of study by 
well defined limits. There will be successive stages of 
progress, and these stages will be made as clear and pre- 
cise as it is possible to make them ; and no pupil will be 
allowed to go forward until the ground behind is tho- 
roughly mastered. At the same time, these stages in 
study will be kept all the while before the minds of the 
pupils as goals to be aimed at. There will be, for this 
purpose, at briefly recurring intervals, examinations for 
promotion. While no pupil will be permitted to go for- 
ward, except as the result of a rigorous examination, the 
idea of an advance will, if possible, never be allowed to 
be absent from his thoughts. That scholar will be count- 
ed worthy of highest honor, not who stands highest in a 
particular room, but who by successful examinations can 
pass most rapidly from room to room. That teacher will 
be consideied most successful, not who retains most pu- 
pils, but who in a given time pushes most pupils forward 
into a higher room. We want no scholar to stand still 



21 

for a single week. Motion, progress, definite achieve- 
ment, must be the order of the day. 

7. I shall aim, in the seventh place, to cultivate in 
every pupil a habit of attention and observation. Youth 
is the time when the senses should be most assiduously 
trained. The young should be taught to see for them- 
selves, to ascertain the qualities of objects by the use of 
their own eyes and hands, to notice whether a thing is 
distant and how far distant it is, whether it is heavy and 
how heavy, whether it has color and what color, whether 
it has form and what form. They should learn to study 
real things by actually noticing them with their own 
senses, and then learning to apply the right words to the 
knowledge so acquired. We have already a signal ex- 
ample of this mode of teaching in our lowest class, where 
lessons on objects are given with such admirable effect. 
What we shall aim at will be to apply this habit of ob- 
servation in all the higher branches of study, so that in 
every stage of progress the scholar shall know, not merely 
the names of things, but the things themselves. In other 
words, we would cultivate real, as well as verbal know- 
ledge, and aim to awaken in every pupil an active, in- 
quiring, observant state of mind. 

The theme is tempting, and there are other points on 
which I would gladly crave a hearing. But I have 
another duty to perform, and must therefore bring this 
part of my address to a close. It would be unpardona- 
ble, if, on an occasion like this, I had not something to 
say directly to those who are to be the immediate objects 



22 

of my care. The indulgence of my other hearers, there- 
fore, is respecttiilly solicited, while I say a few words to 
my future scholars. 

To THE Pupils : — 

My Young Friends, — You are about to enter upon a 
new period of study. The occasion is one eminently 
suited for serious reflection. At the close of a school ca- 
reer it is difficult not to reflect. Thoughts upon one's 
course will, at such a time, force themselves upon us. 
But then it is too late. The good we might have achiev- 
ed, is beyond our grasp, and its contemplation is profit- 
able only as a legitimate topic of contrition. How much 
wiser and more profitable to anticipate the serious judg- 
ment which sooner or later we must pass upon our ac- 
tions, and so to shape our conduct in advance, that the 
retrospect, when it comes, may be a source of joy and 
congratulation, rather than of shame and repentance. 
How much Aviser to direct our bark to some definite and 
well selected channel, than to float at random along the 
current of events, the sport of every idle wave. Men 
are divided into two classes, — those who control their 
own destiny, doing what they mean to do, living accord- 
ing to a plan which they prefer and prepare, and those 
who are controlled by circumstances, who have a vague 
purpose of doing something or being somebody in the 
world, but leave the means to chance. The season of 
youth generally determines to which of these classes you 
will ultimately belong. It is hero, at school, that you 



23 

decide whether, when you come to man's estate, you will 
be governing men and women, or whether you will be 
mere aimless drivellers. Those who at the beginning of 
a course in school, or at the beginning of a term, make 
to themselves a distinct aim, towards which day after 
day they work their course, undiscouraged by defeat, un- 
seduced by ease or the temptation of a temporary plea- 
sure, not only win the immediate objects of pursuit, but 
gain for themselves those habits of aiming, of persever- 
ance, of self-control, which will make them hereafter con- 
trolling and governing men. Those, on the contrary, 
who enter upon an academic career with an indefinite 
purpose of studying after a fashion, whenever it is not 
too hot, or too cold, or the lessons are not too hard, or 
there is nothing special going on to distract the attention, 
or who are content to swim along lazily with the multi- 
tude, trusting to the good nature of the teacher, to an oc- 
casional deception, or to the general chapter of accidents, 
for escape from censure, and for such an amount of pro- 
ficiency as on the whole will pass muster with friends or 
the public, — depend upon it, such youths are doomed, 
inevitably doomed, all their days, to be nobodies, or 
worse. 

Let us, then, my young friends, as preliminary to en- 
tering upon the duties of another term, call to mind some 
of those things, which, as intelligent and responsible per- 
sons, you should deliberately aim to follow or to avoid 
Aviiile in this school. In the counsels which I am ooina- 
to give you, I shall make no attempt to say what is new 



24 

or striking. My aim will be rather to recal to your 
memory some few of those familiar maxims, which have 
been, I dare say, often inculcated, both here and else- 
where. 

1. First of all, remember that men always, by a ne- 
cessary law, fall below the point at which they aim. You 
well understand that if a projectile be hurled in the di- 
rect line of any elevated object, the force of gravity will 
cause the projectile to deflect from the line of direction, 
and this deflection and curvature will be great in propor- 
tion to the distance of the object to be reached. Hence, 
in gunnery, the skillful marksman invariably takes aim 
above the point which he expects to hit. At certain dis- 
tances, he will aim 45° above the horizon at what is re- 
ally but "60° above it. So, in moral subjects, there is 
unfortunately a native and universal tendency down- 
wards, which deflects us out of the line in which good 
resolutions would propel us. You aim to be distinguish- 
ed, and you turn out only meritorious. You aim to be 
meritorious, and you fall into the multitude. You are 
content with being of the multitude, and you fall out of 
your class entirely. So also, as in physical projectiles, 
the extent of your departure from the right line is mea- 
sured by the distance of the objects at which you aim. 
You resolve to avoid absolutely and entirely certain prac- 
tices for a day or a week, and you can perhaps keep very 
close to the mark. But who can hold himself up to an 
exact fulfillment of his intentions for a whole term ? I 
do not wish to discourage you. The drift of my argu- 



25 

meiit is, not that you should make no aim, but that you 
should fix your aim high, and that you should then keep 
yourselves up to your good resolutions, as closely as you 
possibly can. 

2. In the next place, remember that no excellence is 
ever attained without selj-denial. Wisdom's ways are 
indeed ways of pleasantness. The satisfaction of having 
done well and nobly is of a certain ravishing kind, far 
surpassing other enjoyments. But to obtain this high 
and satisfying pleasure, many minor and incompatible 
pleasures must be foregone. You cannot have the plea- 
sure of being a first rate scholar, and at the same time 
have your full swing of fun. I am not opposed to fun. 
I like it myself. No one enjoys it more. Nor do I think 
the exercise and enjoyment of it incompatible with the 
highest scholastic excellence. But there is a place for all 
things, and school is not the place for fun. If you enjoy 
in moderation out of school the relaxation and refresh- 
ment which jokes, wit, and pleasantry give, you will be 
all the more likely to grapple successfully with the seri- 
ous employments which await you here. Still do not 
forget that your employments here are serious. Study is 
a sober business. If you would acquire really useful 
knowledge, you must be willing to work. You must 
make up your minds to say "no" to the thousand oppor- 
tunities and temptations to frivolous behaviour that will 
beset you in school. You must not be content with be- 
ing studious and orderly merely when the eye of author- 
ity is upon you. This is to be simply eye-servants and 



26 

hypocrites. To have a Httle pleasantry in the school 
room, to perpetrate or to join in some witty practical 
joke, may seem to you comparatively harmless. So it 
would be but for its expense. You buy it at the cost of 
benefits which no money can measure, and no future time 
can replace. There are seasons of the year when the 
farmer may indulge in relaxation, — may go abroad on 
excursions of pleasure, or may saunter away the time in 
comparative idleness at home. But in the few precious 
weeks of seedtime, every day, every hour is of moment. 
This is your seedtime. Every hour of school time that 
you waste in trifling is an injury and a loss to your fu- 
ture. Remember, then, that you cannot reach high ex- 
cellence in school, or that pui'e and noble enjoyment, 
which is its exceeding great reward, without self-denial. 
Resolve, then, here, and now, steadfastly, immovably, to 
say *'no" to everj^thing in school, r.o matter how inno- 
cent in itself, which shall interfere with the progress of 
study for a single moment. If you make such a fixed 
resolution, and live up to it, you will soon be surprised 
to find how easy and pleasant the discipline of school has 
become. 

3. Among the mischievous fallacies of young persons 
at school, I know none that work more to their own dis- 
advantage than the opinion that a particular teacher is 
prejudiced against them. Against this feeling it seems 
impossible to reason. When once scholars have it fairly 
in their heads that a certain teacher is partial, in what- 
ever relates to their standing, I have been almost forced 



27 

to the conclusion that it is best not to attempt reasoning 
with them. Under such feelings, indeed, by a singular 
freak of human nature, scholars are often driven to do, 
in sheer bravado or defiance, the very things which they 
imagine to be unjustly imputed to them. Allow me, my 
young friends, to ask you candidly and in all seriousness 
to turn this matter over in your own minds. What ade- 
quate motive can you imagine for a teacher's marking 
you otherwise than impartially ? Every teacher has an 
interest in having as many high marks and as few de- 
merits under his signature as possible. It is not to his 
credit that he should be unable to maintain order without 
blackening his roll with bad marks. A class roll filled 
with O's is not the kind of evidence a teacher covets as 
to his skill in teaching. Notice the intercourse between 
the teachers and those scholars who are admitted on aU 
hands to be strictly and conscientiously correct in their 
behaviour. See what a pleasure it affords the instructor 
to have to deal with such pupils. See what a satisfac- 
tion the teacher experiences when, at the close of the day, 
there is not a demerit mark on his book. Judge, then, 
whether it is not likely to be a self-denial and a cross to 
him, when a sense of duty compels him to do otherwise. 
Be slow, therefore, to impute bad marks to injustice, or 
ill nature. No man of course is infallible, and teachers 
make mistakes as well as other people. But the tempta- 
tions to do intentional wrong are, in this case, all the 
other way. 

4. Closely connected with the habit just mentioned is 



28 

the disposition to neglect particular branches of study. 
From disliking a teacher, the transition is easy to a dis- 
like for his department. Others again, without any per- 
sonal feeling in the case, think that they have a natural 
fitness for one class of studies, and an equally natural un- 
fitness for another class. So they content themselves 
with proficiency in that in which they already excel, and 
neglect that in which they are deficient, and which there- 
fore they find difficult. Is this wise ? The branches 
which you find difficult, are precisely those in which you 
need an instructor. Besides, the object of education is to 
develop equally and harmoniously all your faculties. If 
the memory, the reasoning faculty, the imagination, or 
any one power of the mind, is active far beyond the other 
powers, that surely is no reason for giving additional 
stimulus and growth in that direction. On the contrary, 
bend your main energies towards bringing forward your 
other faculties to an equal development. If you have a 
natural or acquired preference for mathematics, and a 
dislike for languages, the former study will take care of 
itself: bend all your energies to the latter. So, if lan- 
guages are your choice, and mathematical study your 
aversion, take hold of the odious task with steady and 
sturdy endeavour, and you will soon convert it into a 
pleasure. The same is true of grammar, of geography, 
of history, of composition, of rhetoric, of mental and 
moral science, of elocution, — of every branch If you 
are wise, you will give your chief attention in school to 
those branches for which you feel the least inclination. 



29 

and in which you find it most difficult to excel. You 
should do so, because, in the first place, this failure and 
disinclination, in nine cases out of ten, grow out of defec- 
tive training heretofore, and not from any defect in your 
mental constitution ; and, secondly, where your natural 
constitution may be, as in some cases it is, one-sided and 
exceptional, your aim should be to correct and cure, not 
to aggravate, the defects of nature. This advice, you 
will observe, relates to your course in school, not to your 
choice of a profession in life. When your career in school 
is finished, and you are about to select a profession, fol- 
low by all means the bent of your genius. Do that for 
which you have the greatest natural or acquired aptitude. 
But here, the case is different. Your aim in school is to 
develop your powers, — to grow into accomplished and 
capable men and women, — to acquire complete command 
of all the mental resources God has given you. 

5. There is a practice, common to school life every- 
where, known by the not very dignified name of cheating. 
There is, I fear, among young people generally, while at 
school, an erroneous and mischievous state of opinion on 
this subject. Deception in regard to your lessons is not 
viewed, as it should be, in the light of a serious moral 
delinquency. An ingenuous youth, who would scorn to 
steal, and scorn to lie anywhere else than at school, makes 
no scruple to deceive a teacher. Is honesty a thing of 
place and time ? I do not say, I would not trust at my 
money drawer the boy who has been cheating at his les- 
sons, because a boy may have been led into the latter de- 



30 

linquencj b}^ a false notion of right, which as jet has not 
affected his integrity in matters of business. But this I 
do say. Cheating at school blunts the moral sense ; it 
impairs the sense of personal honor ; it breaks down the 
outworks of integrity ; it leads by direct and easy steps 
to that grosser cheating which ends in the penitentiary. 

On this subject, I once had a most painful experience. 
A boy left school with as fair a character for honesty as 
many others against whom nothing can be said except 
that they do sometimes practice deceit in regard to their 
lessons. I really believed him to be an honest boy, and 
recommended him as such. By means of the recommen- 
dation, he obtained in a large store a responsible post 
connected with the receipt and payment of money. His 
employer was pleased with his abilities, and disposed to 
give him rapid promotion. After a few months, I in- 
quired after him, and found that he had been detected in 
forcing his balances ! I do verily believe, the dishonest 
purpose, which led to this pecuniary fraud, grew directly 
out of a facility at deception acquired at school. He had 
cheated his teacher ; he had cheated his flither ; he had 
obtained a fictitious average ; he had gained a standing 
and credit in school not justly his due ; why should he 
not exercise the same ingenuity in improving his pecu- 
niary resources ? 

Independently of the moral effect of these deceptive 
practices upon your own character, is there not in the 
acts themselves an inherent meanness and baseness, from 
which a pure minded youth would instinctively recoil ? 



31 

Is there not something false and rotten, in the prevailing 
sentiment on this subject among young persons at school ? 
When by some convenient fiction you reach a higher 
standard than your merits entitle you to, is it not so far 
forth at the expense of some more conscientious competi- 
tor ? And, after all, when you deceive a teachier into the 
belief that you are studying when you are not, that you 
know a thing wh^n you do not know it, that you wrote 
a composition, or executed a drawing, which was done by 
some one else, — whom do you cheat but yourself? You 
may deceive the teacher, but the loss is yours. 

6. If there could be such a thing as an innocent crime, 
I would say it was that of talking in school. There can 
hardly be named a more signal instance of an act so per- 
fectly innocent in itself, becoming so seriously blame- 
worthy purely and solely by circumstances, I believe I 
express the common opinion of all who have had any ex- 
perience in the matter, when I say that three fourths of 
all the intentional disorder, and at least nine tenths of all 
the actual interruptions to study, grow out of the prac- 
tice of unlicensed talking. And yet this is the very last 
thing which young persons will admit into their serious, 
practical convictions as being an evil and a wrong. They 
may admit that they get bad marks hy it ; that it brinos 
them into trouble ; but that it is really an evil, meriting- 
the strictures with which the teacher visits it, is more than 
they believe. What deceives them is this. They call to 
mind the events of a particular hour. There was durino- 
that hour, according to their recollection, a general atten- 



32 

tion to study, and no special disorder ; perhaps some three 
or four of the pupils noted for talking. This talking, too, 
may have been about the lesson, or at all events was not 
such as to distract very perceptibly the current of instruc- 
tion. Hence the inference that a moderate amount of 
talking, such as that was, is perfectly consistent with de- 
corum and progress. 

So it is. But what is to secure this moderate amount ? 
What right have you to talk that is not enjoyed by your 
neighbor ? If one may talk, so may all ; if one does it, 
unchecked, so will all, as you very well know. How is 
the teacher to know whether you are talking about the 
lesson, or about the last cricket match ? 

This is a perfectly plain question, and I press you to 
an answer. There is no practical medium between un- 
limited license to talk — against which you would your- 
selves be the first to protest, — and an entire prohibition. 
I put it to your consciences, whether you do not believe, 
were this rule strictly and in good faith observed, that 
the interests of the school, and your own interest, com- 
fort, and honor, would be greatly promoted ? Is the in- 
convenience which this rule imposes so irreat, or your 
habit of self-indulgence so strong, that you cannot, or will 
not, forego a slight temporary gratification for so substan- 
tial and lasting a benefit ? 

7. You will avoid much of the difificulty of observing 
this rule, if you give heed to the one remaining counsel 
which I have now to give, and that is, that you econo- 
mize carefully your time in school. On this point some 



33 

excellent and conscientious pupils occasionally err. They 
are very faithful in home preparation ; very attentive at 
lectures ; very industrious in discharging any set duty. 
But they have not yet learned the true secret of all econ- 
omy, whether of time, money, or any other good, — name- 
ly, the knowing how to use well the odds and ends. Take 
care of the pence, was Franklin's motto. If you once 
have the secret of occupying usefully, in studious prepa- 
ration, or in wise repetition, all those little intervals of 
interrupted instruction, which necessarily occur through- 
out the day, you will in the first place almost insure for 
yourselves an entire freedom from demerit marks of every 
kind ; you will secondly add materially to your intellec- 
tual progress ; and, lastly, you will acquire a habit of the 
utmost value in every station and walk in life ; and, de- 
pend upon it, the habits you acquire at school, are of all 
your acquisitions by far the most important. 

But I have already occupied with these desultory re- 
marks a much larger portion of time than I intended. I 
will only then, in conclusion, tender you my best wishes 
for your success in the new career now before you. That 
success depends, in no small degree, upon the feeling and 
spirit with which you this day begin. Only summon up 
your mind to a serious and determined resolution at the 
outset ; aim high ; do not flinch at self-denial ; rise above 
the unworthy suspicion that this or that teacher is unfair 
to you ; resist the disposition to shirk those studies that 
you find disagreeable or diiTicult ; keep clear of every 
kind and degree of trickery ; come straight up to a full 
3 



34 

and strict compliance ^vIth every rule ; lay your plans to 
occupy usefully each golden moment of leisure ; and your 
success will be as certain as is the wish for it, which I 
once more, most respectfully and affectionately, tender 
you. 



BISHOP ODENHEiMER'S ADDRESS. 



Ladies and Gentlemen : — It is with unaffected satisfac- 
tion that I respond to the call of the honorable Board of 
Trustees of the Normal School of the State of New Jer- 
sey, to address you on this auspicious occasion. Whether 
I consider the distinguished character of the gentleman 
who is this day inducted into office as Principal of the 
Model department of the Normal School, and with whom 
I have had the honor of a personal acquaintance for sev- 
eral years ; or whether I consider his election, as I have 
a right to do, as the manifestation of increased interest 
in the most important subject of the education of teachers 
for the work of teaching, I am satisfied that this occasion 
is auspicious for the best interests of education in general, 
as well as in its relations to the citizens of the ancient 
Commonwealth of New Jersey. Although I am not 
" native here," yet have I been called, in the providence 
of God, to make this noble State my home ; and, there- 
fore, for this cause, as well as from the promptings of my 
personal convictions of her splendid resources and capa- 
bilities, there is nothing, material, intellectual, or spiritual, 
bearing upon her prosperity, which does not concern me, 
and claim from me most cordial and practical interest. 

In one regard, perhaps, one not by birth a Jerscyman, 
may be considered a fliir witness to the character and 



36 

prospects of this Commonwealth. Impartiality in judg- 
ing, and honesty in expressing the result of judgment, 
may possibly be associated with him, whose loyalty to 
the grand old State of his birth, — the key-stone of the 
Union, — may it prove to be the key-stone of the royal 
arch I — is proclaimed in the same sentence, which declares 
the greatness and the power of his adopted State. By a 
good-natured sort of humor, which is often the cloak ot 
actual ignorance, the State of New Jersey is underrated 
by many persons in other States. I do not mean that 
they overlook her public energy and civil prosperity ; for 
the most stupid or the most ignorant cannot but acknow- 
ledge the promptness with which all public claims, Na- 
tional and State, are answered ; and cannot but reverence 
the high moral integrity which characterizes the public 
administration in every department of the Common- 
wealth, judicial, executive, and legislative. But there is 
an ignorance on the part of some, otherwise well-informed 
people, of the physical beauty, material resources, and 
agricultural fertility of this State, and of the personal 
wealth, social refinement, and intellectual culture of the 
citizens. It is not that New Jersey is unduly condemned 
by many citizens of other States, but from their want of 
knowledge they do not duly commend her. For exam- 
ple, not to allule to other facts, let me just ask, how many 
persons know that cultivated land is higher on an average 
per acre in this State than in any other State in the Union? 
How many of our neighboring farmers will believe that 
out of the sands of West Jersey more money can be real- 



37 

izecl by culture, than out of any equal quantity of land in 
any other State ? How may tourists, who have crossed 
the ocean in search of the beautiful in scenery, have the 
slightest idea of the exquisite hill scenery of East Jer- 
sey ; or of the magnificent contrast of ocean and inland 
view from the Highlands of Nevisink ? How many 
will believe that from the fair brow of the Orange 
Mountain range, your eye and imagination can take in a 
combination of sky, and earth, and water, which, out of 
Switzerland, will, in my opinion, challenge competition 
with the most lauded landscapes in the old or the new 
world ? Do all the men and women of taste and social 
culture in the great cities of the neighboring States know 
or believe, that for wealth, situation, architectural beauty, 
social elegance, and for all that gives to home the perfec- 
tion of refinement and comfort, they have not surpassed, 
even if they have equalled, many of the mansions of the 
Jerseys ? Do all well informed people adequately appre- 
ciate the truth and character of the educational institu- 
tions which adorn and bless this State ? I do not allude 
to institutions whose fame is world-wide, such as Prince- 
ton, as honorable in wisdom as in years, and E-utgers, 
with its accomplished and learned faculty, but to the 
younger collegiate and academical institutions, together 
with private schools throughout the State, filled with 
earnest and successful teachers. And once more, do all 
appreciate the purity and iervour of the zeal with which 
the friends of public schools, led on by the energetic and 
scholarly President of the Board of Trustees, have devel- 



38 

oped this class of institutions throughout Xew Jersey, 
and the munificence of her citizens ? One of these citi- 
zens, Mr. Paul Farnum, of Beverly, has given a prepara- 
tory training school for teachers, with all the appliances 
of furniture, building, and an endowment ; whilst the 
liberality of the people at large, through the Governor, 
and Legislature, has established a Normal School ia 
the metropolis of the State, exclusively devoted to the 
instruction of teachers in the science of education, with all 
its appointments, material and academical, of the highest 
order ; and has gone still further, and provided for the 
perfection of the plan for teaching teachers, by establish- 
ing a Model School, wherein the philosophical instructions 
of the Normal School are developed into practice, and the 
science of education deepens and heightens into the art 
of teaching ? 

It is the inauguration, as Principal of this Model School, 
of a gentleman whose name is honored in the republic of 
letters, by the productions of his pen, as well as by his 
successful efforts in the work of educational training, 
which has formed the occasion of our present assembling 
together: and I shall take advantage of this occasion to 
offer a very few words on the absolute necessity to edu- 
cational institutions, of all grades, public or private, aca- 
demical or collegiate, of educated teachers, — those who 
have been trained, scientifically and practically, for the 
work of teaching. My friends, I regard it as an axiom 
in academical science, that a good teacher is a great 
blessing to the individual instructed, and to the commu- 



39 

nity at large. I shall not be considered by rational and 
thoughtful people, as speaking in exaggerated terms of 
the profession of teacher, if I derive its authority and its 
glory from the Great Teacher — our adorable Lord and 
Saviour. The education of a being made in God's image 
and likeness, involves, in all its departments, physical, 
intellectual, and spiritual, the greatest responsibilities, 
and it requires, in my opinion, the blessing of God if it 
is to be well done. A good teacher ought to be a good 
as well as an apt and educated person. When one looks 
round and sees how many there are who combine the 
requisite elements of a good teacher, — -how successfully 
they are now developing the powers and faculties of those 
entrusted to their care, we have great cause for gratitude 
to the Giver of every good and perfect gift ; and yet, 
with this admission, I take leave to say that, in the sa- 
cred as well as the secular department of instruction, in 
matters spiritual, as well as intellectual, the want of this 
age and country is good teachers. We have more orators, 
more learned men, more men of cultivated minds in sa- 
cred and profane literature, in patriotic, classical, and sci- 
entific lore, more men and women who are able to com- 
pete for the palm in the honorable struggle for literary 
fame, than we have good teachers. 

But, restricting the application of the proposition to 
academical matters, with which this occasion is chiefly 
concerned, I venture to appeal, in proof of this assertion, 
to the experience and observation of every one whom I 
address, — of every true friend to education. It is nodis- 



40 

paragement to some of the learned and excellent men 
and women who are doing a glorious work for education, 
by devoting themselves to teaching the young, that they 
are not as good teachers as they are accomplished scholars ; 
that their ability to communicate knowledge is not equal 
to the amount of knowledge actually possessed by them ; 
or that their success in developing the powers and capa- 
cities of their pupils, in moulding and directing their 
characters, and in exhibiting patience, self-control, and 
hopefulness, is not equal to their wishes and earnest ef- 
forts. I am surprised that amid the comparative neglect 
of institutions for the express and exclusive purpose of 
educating teachers, this country is so largely supplied 
with so many who are manifestly succeeding in their 
great work. I am still more surprised that so many, 
whilst not perfectly successful, do as well as they do in 
this most responsible and difficult department of practi- 
cal duty. And it is to the credit of the many, who, fired 
with a conscientious desire to benefit the young, have, in 
the absence of institutions for the training of teachers, 
gone forth and out of their own acquirements communi- 
cated, each in his own way, the knowledge which exists 
among the young of this generation. Nevertheless, it is 
a point which cannot be too earnestly insisted on, that 
the ability to teach is not the natural outgrowth of talent, 
or profound acquirements. It is originally, I believe, a 
gift of God, but eminently a gift to be developed and dis- 
ciplined into effective shape. I would not like to quote 
the classical declaration concerning a poet, — "Nascitur non 



Wxv \ 



41 

fit," — as true of a teacher, nevertheless I think it about as 
true of the one as of the other. I maintain, indeed, that 
there is an original aptitude or gift, which is the basis of a 
poet's and of a teacher's ability, but I also maintain, 
what biography demonstrates, that neither a poet, nor a 
teacher, of the highest ability, ever instructed or blessed 
the race without culture, discipline, and study. 

We may err here, as in some other matters, by extreme 
views. To believe that a good teacher can be made 
without laborious education, directed to that specific end, 
is as serious an error as to think that training and edu- 
cation will of themselves make a good teacher, without a 
natural ability to communicate knowledge, and a love of 
the profession. But when the gift and the training are 
united, when a sort of inward call to this responsible 
work is coupled with an outward educational discipline 
and academical commission, then you will have a speci- 
men of a thoroughly good teacher, one wlio is as much 
in love with his work as his work seems to be in love 
with him ; who wins the hearts of those whose minds he 
informs ; and who develops the character and strengthens 
the powers of his pupils, and fills them with ideas, whilst 
seemingly busied with books, or only hearing recitations, 
or dealing in words. Oh, what a blessing to pupils and 
to the whole community is a thoroughly good teacher ! 
What compensation is too liberal to secure him ? What 
return, short of the gratitude of his pupils and of the 
whole community, is ample enough to reward him ? 

If my observation is not utterly at fault, I should say 



42 

that some of the best teaching is done in the homes of 
the children, by their parents and elder brothers and sis- 
ters, who are called on by some impatient, disheartened, 
or wrathful urchin, to help him master a lesson, the num- 
ber Oi lines or pages embracing which, have been assigned 
by his teacher, without giving him one idea or principle 
for grappling with his difficulties. I have not said, and 
I do not intend to say, that it is ignorance which is the 
precise difficulty in the way of having good teachers. It 
matters not much whether a man has been blinded by 
too much light, or too little, whether he has lost the power 
of vision by looking at the sun, or by being locked up in 
a dungeon ; if he be blind, he must not lead the blind, lest, 
according to the highest authority, '' both fall into the 
ditch." 

A good teacher is one who has not only brains, but 
brains available for helping the brains of others ; who 
has not only something to say, but knows how to say it 
at the right time ; who has not only knowledge but wis- 
dom also ; who is not only a teacher in school but out of 
school, — a teacher by an indomitable instinct, which 
makes him ingenious to get into and develop the powers 
ot his pupils ; a teacher all over, — in body, by self-con- 
trol and dignity ; in soul, by his culture and his inge- 
nuity ; in spirit, by prayer for a blessing, and steadfast 
reliance on the source of all light and blessing. A good 
teacher is one who is bound fast to his educational as well 
as to his religious duties, by that golden three-fold cord 
which is not easily broken, — Faith, Hope and Charity. 



43 

Having jaith in God's blessing on his work ; having hope 
in the ultimate success of his work : and, above all, hav- 
ing charity for pupils, parents, and the public, by each 
and all of whom a teacher's patience is sorely tried, and 
a teacher's heart sometimes well nigh broken. 

As a conclusion to these observations, I would say, that 
institutions for the training of teachers are essential to 
the interests of American education of all grades. Insti- 
tutions erected and sustained for the one avowed purpose 
of educating the educators of the young ; for giving not 
only the philosophy but the practice of the best modes of 
teaching ; for combining in the future teachers' personal 
experience the science and the art of teaching. And not 
the least benefit of such institutions, amply endowed or 
sustained, and furnished with the best appliances for car- 
rying out their purposes, will be the discrimination, after 
fair trial, between those who can, and those who can 
never, hope to be successful teachers. It is not necessary 
that all should be mechanics, lawyers, doctors, or divines. 
But it is absolutely necessary that there should be some 
authority which can tell a man for which department of ac- 
tive life his powers seem to fit him ; and thus prevent his 
losing his own time and the time of his nejghbors, by 
keeping him from the misapplication of his energies. If 
any one think that a man's own common sense ought to 
be sufficient for this purpose, and that each one ought to 
know himself sufficiently to avoid the profession or de- 
partment of work for which he is unfitted, I iiave no 
other reply, here and now to make than this, that the old 



44 

heathen peoples thought that the problem, ''know thy- 
self," was most difficult, and worthy to be inscribed on 
their altars; and that the ethical point of iEsop's fable 
of the crow, who mistook his powers, and fell to singing, 
instead of eating his cheese, may possibly instruct as well 
as amuse us and our fellows of the present generation. 
Does every young gentleman whose house adjoins your 
own and who insists on your listening patiently to his 
wonderful powers on the flute or the trumpet, know him- 
self ? Does every young lady who yields to the impor- 
tunities of friends, and emulates Thalberg or Jenny Lind, 
know herself? Does every civilian who criticizes with- 
out the slightest reserve the most carefully digested plans, 
military and legislative, of the appointed authorities of 
the nation, and who thinks himself competent to settle all 
our troubles by his own superior sagacity, know himself? 
Perhaps in every case the exercise of common sense, if 
such could always be exercised as to one's own capabili- 
ties and duties, would enjoin silence. No, there must be 
some external authority to help the weakness of our com- 
mon nature, especially in the matter of teaching, and to 
test the powers of all, so as to direct to other spheres of 
labor those who are not by nature adapted to this profes- 
sion, and who may give to those who already possess the 
elements of a teacher, that discipline which makes them 
real blessings to the home, the academy, and the com- 
monwealth. 

Such, if I understand the case rightly, is the funda- 
mental desi2;n of the Normal School of the State of New 



45 

Jersey, in its two departments, the Normal School proper 
for the science, and the Model School for the art, of ed- 
ucation. The former department has been, and is now, 
presided over by a scholar and an educator, whose able 
reports on education, as well as his eminent success in 
the actual working of the Normal School, have won for 
him, both within and without this State, respect and 
gratitude. The latter department, the Model School, re- 
ceives this day to its headship, a gentleman who, in ad- 
dition to his general reputation as an educator and a 
writer, has been known to me personally as the accom- 
plished and successful head of the High School in Phila- 
delphia. The election and liberal support of such a gen- 
tleman is another illustration of the wisdom of the Gov- 
ernor, Legislature, and Board of Trustees, and of their 
determination that in whatever they do in the matter of 
education, they desire to secure the best for the interests 
of the people and the State. 

In the substantial character of the buildings, their ap- 
pliances, and above all, in the high character of those 
who are selected as heads of the schools, the Trustees 
show plainly that they expend the funds entrusted to 
them with that wise liberality which is, in the end, the 
truest economy. Poor school buildings, poor apparatus, 
poor teachers, and poor pay, are, in my judgment, a 
waste of the people's money, — a waste now, and a waste 
forever. But good buildings, good apparatus, good teach- 
ers, and good pay, will be found, in the end, a great sav- 
ing of the people's money. The actual outlay now will 



46 

not be grudged, and it will be rewarded a hundred fold 
in a generation of loyal, law-abiding, upright, educated 
citizens. Under the impulses of a generous and genial 
spirit, upholding and sustaining the energetic labors of 
the newly-elected head of the Model School, we may look 
for the most satisfactory results. It is but fair to bespeak 
from all a generous support for one who is to be, within 
his sphere, a teacher of teachers. How unspeakably im- 
portant the work ! How full of the gravest responsibil- 
ities ! How intimately connected with the educational 
interests of this State ! How worthy of the support of 
all who desire to see good teachers multiply among us — 
those who have been duly trained to work, and who in 
an academical as well as a christian sense, are " apt to 
teach !" 

I risk nothing in saying that the distinguished gentle- 
man who has this day been inaugurated, will find his ef- 
forts for the educational interests of New Jersey attended, 
and rewarded, by the hearty God-speed of the citizens of 
the commonwealth. 



eto |ers£g ^Mt flomal Sr|00l 

MODEL DEPARTMENT. 

JOHN S, HART, LL. D., PRINCIPAL. 



The objects of the Model School are — 

1. To maintain a school wliich shall be in all respects a Model^ both 
by the thoroughness of its instruction^ and the excellence of its methods, 
and whose course of studies shall be suited to the ordinary wants of the 
community. 

2. To aiford to the pupils of the Normal School enlarged opportuni- 
ties for observation and practice in all the grades of instruction, from 
the Primary to the High School. 

To secure these ends, the Trustees have provided buildings univer- 
sally admitted to be most complete in all their arrangements and ap- 
pointments of every kind, for the purposes of instruction, and they 
have obtained experienced educational talent of the highest order that 
the country affords. 

STUDIES. 

Special pains are taken to have the pupils first thoroughly grounded 
in the common English branches, such as Eeading, Spelling, Writing, 
Arithmetic, Geography, and Grammar. The other studies embraced 
in the course are the following : — Drawing, Book-keeping, Vocal Music, 
Elocution, Composition, Rhetoric, English Literature, Physical Ge- 
ography, History (Ancient and Modern), Physiolog}^, Algebra, G eometry, 
Trigonometry, Surveying, Isomctrical Drawing and Mapping, Analyti- 
cal Geometry, Calculus, Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, French, Ger- 
man, Latin, and Greek. Pupils who are fitting for College omit some of 
the higher mathematical studies, and give additional time to the Latin 
and Greek. 

THE MILITARY DEPARTMENT. 

In two of the rooms, the pupils constitute a Military Depart nuMit, 
under the special directon of a Professor of Military Tactics. The pu- 
pils in this department, besides being uniformed and under a military 
organization in all the duties of tlie class room, receive regular instruc- 
tion in military tacticS; and a drill three times every week. 



48 



SCHOOL YEAR. 

The School year includes 44 weeks cf instruction, divided into two 
terms of 22 weeks each. The first session began on Monday, August 
25th, and will continue until the close of January, 23 weeks, of which 
the week from Christmas to New Years will be vacation. The second 
session will begin on Monday, Feb. 2d, and will continue for 22 weeks, 
namely, until July 3d. The summer vacation will last 7 weeks. 

SCHOOL HOURS. 

There are two sessions a day, the morning session beginning at i be- 
fore 9 and closing at 1 after 12 ; the afternoon session beginning at 2 
and closing at 4. The Drill, in the Military Department, is from 4 to 
5, P. M. 

CHARGES. 

To day scholars, the rates for Tuition, Stationery, and the use of text 
books in the English branches, are, according to grade, §11, 313, 616, 
$21, and $31 a session, payable invariably in advance. 

BOARDERS. 

Two of the Professors, Dr. Webb and Prof. Pierce, are prepared to 
receive boys into their families as boarders. The arrangements for 
boarders are very complete, and have given the greatest satisfaction to 
those parents from abroad who have sent their sons here to be educated. 
The charge to ordinary pupils is $275 a year (of 44 weeks.) To pupils 
taking the higher branches the charge is $300 a j^ear. This charge is 
in full for Board, "Washing, Tuition, Stationery, and the use of text books 
in the English branches. Thci-e are no extra char(jes. 

CORRESPONDENCE. 

All letters relating to the Model School, should be addressed to the 
Principal, Prof. JOHN S. HART, Trenton, N. J. 



The Trustees feel jrreat confidence in recommending this School to their fellow citi- 
zens. The Principal is a gentleman of national reputation, with special and tried skill 
in the precise line of duties here assigned to him The Professors and Assistants, in the 
several departments, are persons who have been regularly trained to the business of 
teaching as a profession, and who have already been approved therein by a large and 
successtul experience. The Trustees contideutly believe that the School, under its pre- 
sent complete and efficient organization, offers advantages such as are seldom to be 
found, and at a cost far below tue usual rates. 

By order of the Board, E. S. FIELD, President. 



BOARD OF TRUSTEES. 

RicHATiT) S. Field, Princeton, Pres't, Peter I. Clark, Flemington, 

Benjamin Williamson, Elizabeth, Charles Sitgreaves, Phillipsburg, 

William A. Whitehead, Newark, Thomas Lawrence, Hamburg, 

George P. Fort, New Egypt, Joseph H. Thompson, Salem, 

Lyman A. Chandler, Rockaway, William S. Bowen, Bridgeton, 
Frederick W. Ricord, State Superintendent of Public Schools, ex officio, Newark. 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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022 152 575 9 



